In Love With A Stranger
by sball6
Summary: He loved her from a distance.  What will happen the night he actually decides to take a chance?  OneShot...enjoy!


**_Disclaimer: I do not own Alex, Chris, or Jamie (Velvet Sky). I hope you enjoy!_**

"C'mon Alex, just go talk to her. You've been in love with her for over a year." Chris Sabin said leaning across the table toward his best friend and tag team partner, Alex Shelley.

Alex glared at Chris through the dim-lit bar, but a part of him knew Chris was right. He had been frequenting the bar for a little over a year and she was always working. He thought she was gorgeous, but there were always at least 2 guys surrounding her.

Chris had been bugging him to go talk to her for months now, but he always had an excuse not to. If he was honest with himself, he knew that he was really just scared to talk to her. He was in love with her, but he knew nothing about her. What if his mind's version of her was completely wrong?

"What are you afraid of Alex?" Chris' girlfriend asked.

"Who said I was afraid to talk to her?" Jamie looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"No one, but you have never just sat and watched a woman like this before. You would have made a move months ago."

"Maybe I did and I got turned down."

"That's a lie and you know it Shelley!" Chris said standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"If you won't talk to her, I will. And we both know that will just embarrass you."

"Fine…I'll go talk to her." He pushed away from the table and stood up. Chris watched as Alex made his way to her side of the bar and sat down.

Alex couldn't believe he was doing this. He should have let Chris go and embarrass him. Now he would probably end up looking like a fool all by himself. At least he could say Chris was drunk. It wouldn't be true, but more believable than saying he was drunk himself.

"What can I get for you?" Alex looked up to see the woman he had been crushing on standing right in front of him. He couldn't help but stare at the beautiful woman behind the bar. Her hazel eyes sparkled when she smiled at him. He could smell the coconut shampoo and a hint of vanilla in her perfume. "Do I know you?" She asked before Alex could even answer her first question.

"No, we've never met before. I'm Alex." He said wishing that they would have met earlier.

"Marybeth. Now what can I get for you Alex?"

"I'll just have a beer."

"Okay, comin' up." She walked over to the beer and started pouring him a glass of beer. She glanced over and caught him looking at her. He turned quickly, but not before he saw her smile at him. She walked back over and set the beer on the counter. Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out his money. "It's on me sweetie." There was that smile again. It made the entire room light up.

"Thanks." Alex said as he put the money in the tip jar. He grabbed his beer and turned to go.

"Don't be a stranger Alex." He turned back and smiled. He walked over to Chris and Jamie.

"So how'd it go?" Jamie asked as he sat down at the table.

"It went fine."

"What did you find out?" Chris asked wanting more details.

"Her name is Marybeth."

"And…"

"And nothing. It's not like we could really talk. She's working and it's busy in here tonight."

"Dude, you chickened out!" Chris said pushing his chair away from the table. "Look at her!" He said pointing to the bar. "That could be you over there flirting with her." He paused. "Can you guess which guy she won't be sleeping with tonight?"

"Hey!" Alex said trying to defend her. "You don't know her Chris! So shut the fuck up! Just because she is flirting doesn't automatically mean she's going to sleep with him."

"Man, I'm sorry, but come on. Look at her."

"I have Chris…for a year and I have never seen her leave with any guy."

"You don't really know her Alex." Jamie said trying to keep the two friends quiet.

"No I don't, but neither do you guys." He paused and looked back to the bar, but Marybeth was gone. He scanned the bar, but didn't see the guy either. "I'm going home." Chris looked lover to the bar and noticed the same thing Alex had noticed.

"Sorry Alex."

"Don't Chris. Neither of us saw her walk out with him." He grabbed his coat and walked out the back door. As he got to his car he noticed the guy that had been flirting with Marybeth, but he didn't see her anywhere. He was about to shut his door when he saw the guy bend over and grab something…or someone. Alex squinted trying to see better through the darkness. He moved a little closer to see that it was a woman. And Alex knew right away that it was Marybeth, but she wasn't moving much.

He grabbed his cell phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1. It felt like an eternity before anyone picked up on the other end.

"9-1-1…what's your emergency?"

"I'm outside 'The Bar' in downtown Detroit and this guy is forcing one of the bartenders into his car. She isn't moving very much. I think she's really hurt."

"All right, I'm sending someone over. You need to stay out of sight sir."

"Shit!"

"What? Sir are you okay?" He could hear a little panic in the operator's voice, but he didn't care at the moment.

"The guy has a gun. He just picked it up."

"Sir, an officer is coming. Stay where you are."

"What if he shoots her?"

"The police are coming. Just stay put." But Alex couldn't stand by and watch Marybeth get shot. And it could be too late by the time the cops got there. He ran back to his car and started digging through the trunk. It was dark, but he knew it was in there. He kept peeking towards the car to see the guy waving the gun around. He finally found the tire iron he had been looking for.

He crept back towards Marybeth and the psycho with the gun. Finally all those years of sneaking in and out of the house was paying off for him. He was right behind the guy when he got a good look at Marybeth. The jerk really did a number on her. Her left eye was swollen shut and her right had a huge gash next to it. She had cuts and bruises all over.

He must have made a noise because the guy turned around and Alex was face to face with him. He held the tire iron behind his back as the guy took a step toward him.

"You might want to turn and slowly walk away if you know what is good for you." The man said pointing the gun at Alex.

"Get out of here Alex!" Marybeth screamed from the backseat of the car. The guy turned around and backhanded her with the gun. It was just long enough for Alex to pull out the tire iron and hit the guy in the back. He dropped to the ground and the gun fell by his side. Alex kicked it further away and leaned into the car to check on Marybeth.

"Detroit PD!" Alex jumped at the sudden noise, but got out of the car.

"Hurry! She's barely breathing!"

"Hands up!" The officer shouted. Alex was shocked. Did they really think that he did it? The bad guy was laying on the ground.

"Wait!" Alex turned to see one of the guys that was always around Marybeth walking up to the first officer.

"Officer Todd, what happened here?" Officer? Alex was shocked. Was this supposed to be a bust?

"This guy saved her life. We were right there when he hit him with the tire iron. Now get her out of here!" The EMTs pushed past Alex and started working on the man and Marybeth.

"We'll have a few questions for you in a minute. Stay there." The first officer said as he walked by him. Alex watched as they loaded Marybeth into the ambulance. He also noticed the man had gotten up off the ground and the cops had him handcuffed and were putting him in the back of a squad car. He saw the first cop walking towards him, but was stopped by the second one. He reached into his pocket to get his cell phone, but remembered he left it in the car.

"Excuse me…" Alex looked up to see the officer that had defended him standing in front of him. "My name is Officer Todd. I just want to thank you for saving the girl."

"Her name is Marybeth. Is she okay?"

"We're not sure yet. They are taking her to the hospital. You saved her life tonight. How did you know?"

"I didn't know. I was leaving 'The Bar' and I saw him." Alex pointed to the squad car that was just pulling away from the alley. "I knew he had been talking with her. I saw him pick something up so I moved a little closer and saw it was a girl. Like I said I had just left the bar where she works and recognized her. I called the cops, but when I saw the gun I knew I didn't have time to wait for the cops to find the right alley. I grabbed my tire iron and crept up to him. He turned and pointed the gun at me and told me to walk away. She yelled at me to leave. The guy turned around and hit her in the head with the gun, so I took the chance and hit him in the back."

"Well, thank you. That is all I needed."

"You said they were taking her to the hospital?"

"Yea, if they give you any trouble about being there, just tell them Officer Todd sent you."

"Thank you." He turned and walked away from the crime scene. Once he got to his car he grabbed his cell phone and called Chris to explain everything and tell him he was going to the hospital. He knew Chris would be mad, but he did what he felt he needed to do.

Hospital

He had been right about Chris being mad. Chris had yelled at him the entire 10 minute drive to the hospital and then had handed the phone to Jamie who yelled for almost another 5 minutes. But he wasn't sorry for any of it. He had saved someone's life. He felt like more of a hero in Detroit than when he held the TNA tag belts with Chris.

He walked into the waiting room and to his surprise there were half a dozen uniformed officers standing around. He had just decided to leave and come back the next day when he saw Officer Todd walk in.

"Mr. Shelley." Alex looked curiously at the officer. He had never mentioned his name to him. "I'm glad you're here. She'd like to see you."

"Really?"

"Yea, she asked if you were okay as soon as she woke up." He put his arm around Alex's shoulder and led him to Marybeth's hospital room. He opened the door for Alex and then closed it behind him. The room was fairly dark, but he could still see all the bruises on Marybeth's face.

"Hi Alex."

"Hey Marybeth. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thanks to you I'm still alive. Pretty sore, but alive." He noticed the flinch as she moved her head a little.

"I should let you get some rest. Would it be okay if I came by sometime tomorrow to see how you're doing?" She smiled and he could see her good eye light up a bit.

"I'd like that. They said they'll probably keep me here at least another night."

"Try and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled and walked out of her room. He promised himself to be back to the hospital right after his workout.

The Next Day

Alex walked to Marybeth's hospital room with some flowers and a gift bag. He had only planned on getting her some flowers, but when he was there he saw a stuffed bear and he knew he had to get it too. He knocked twice before he heard Marybeth answer. He walked in to see her sitting up in bed. The bruises looked worse than the day before, but she looked better rested.

"Hey Alex."

"Hey! Feeling any better?" She shrugged.

"It still hurts, but getting better every minute."

"That's good." He paused not sure what else to say.

"What are those?" She asked pointing to the flowers and gift bag in his hand.

"Oh, these are for you." He walked over and set them on the tray next to her bed.

"The flowers are beautiful Alex. You didn't have to."

"I know, but I saw them and it felt right." She opened the bag and pulled out the small stuffed bear.

"Thank you so much Alex! I love it!"

"You're welcome. I suppose I should…"

"No, stay! Please. I'd really like some company." Alex smiled and sat down next to her. He was about to say something when a knock interrupted him.

"I found your badge Scott." Alex looked to see Officer Todd walking in holding out a police badge.

"Your badge? You're a cop?" She looked as stunned as he felt.

"You mean no one told you?"

"Told me what?" She sighed as she straightened herself up.

"I've been undercover at 'The Bar' for the past year trailing this drug ring. Last night we got enough dirt on the guy to put him away for a long time; however, he found out I was a cop and that is what you walked in on."

"The bust wasn't supposed to happen until tonight, but he was tipped off somehow." Officer Todd spoke up after Marybeth went quiet.

"That is how he surprised us when he attacked me in the bathroom." Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was in love with this girl, but he really didn't know her at all. He saw her nod at the other officer, who stood and left the room. "I'm sorry you didn't hear about this last night. If I had my way, I would have told you 6 months ago when I first saw you at 'The Bar'. I've had a crush on you since then Alex Shelley." She stopped and waited for him to say something. "Say something…"

"Tell me something that is true."

"My name is Marybeth. I was a bartender throughout college and I meant it when I said don't be a stranger."

"But you wouldn't even have been around after tonight if it had all gone down right."

"That isn't true. You see 'The Bar' is owned by my cousin and she was the one that told me about you. She told me all about your wrestling and even told me that you are in a band…which I listened to and loved by the way."

"I don't know what to say."

"Can you say that we can get to know each other?"

"How about we start all over?" She smiled at the suggestion. "My name is Patrick Martin, but everyone call me Alex…my ring name."

"Marybeth Scott…everyone calls me MB or Scott, but I would prefer if you didn't." Her smile was contagious and Alex could tell this was the start of a great new relationship.


End file.
